John,
Same here all evening. SBC (my ISP) said to call my computer supplier. After waiting ENDLESSLY, I finally got through only to have them tell me they can't help me and give me the Symantic phone number. They were closed, of course. Then I had a bright idea! My new computer is using XP Professional and I too could not download the patch due to the "knock-offs". What I did was to fire-up my old laptop using WIN98 and I downloaded the patch to a disk. I then installed the patch from the disk to my XP computer and it seems to be working (so far). I've been on 10 minutes now and I'm still here so I guess it may have worked. Maybe someone in your area using WIN98 can download the patch you need for you and you can try it. If you are on XP Pro, I could send you the disk I used if you cannot get the patch from anyone else. If you are on XP Home, I'm not sure my patch would work but you are welcome to try if you'd like. I'll be away till Thursday so LMK if you need the disk and I can send it out when I get home. Good luck!
Another computer pain in the a**